Comments on: Dog Saliva, Pecking Pigeons, and Children https://thebetterplan.org/2016/12/20/dog-saliva-pecking-pigeons-and-children/
. . is about understanding the power of choice, the freedom and responsibility that go with it, and the personal happiness that is the result.Fri, 23 Dec 2016 17:19:20 +0000
hourly
1 http://wordpress.com/
By: Anonymous https://thebetterplan.org/2016/12/20/dog-saliva-pecking-pigeons-and-children/comment-page-1/#comment-17884
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 17:19:20 +0000http://thebetterplan.org/?p=2917#comment-17884

Debbie—not sure if you ever read Bill Power’s book (Behavior the Control of Perception) or if you have an old copy of Bill’s Stations of the Mind; if so, Isabelle’s story is a good example of the levels of perception; that is, relationships or even a system of relationships may ascend to a higher value. I have thought a lot about this incident re Isabelle and what I am proud about is her valuing of friendship over a rule, even though the rule was designed for the students’ protection. Sometimes in schools, I think we emphasize the rules too much and we don’t listen to kids when they don’t follow a rule. Why Not? What was more important than a rule? I suppose it all gets back to moral development. I think of “Sounder” and the father who stole a ham to feed his starving children; of Irish people rebelling against landlords; even Andrew Jackson’s defense of his wife, Rachel. I think if I were teaching CT now, I might ask my students to think of a time when they considered breaking a rule, what they decided to do, how they made that choice, and what was the value that drove their behavior.
I remember Bill saying we stop at a red light because we think it is in our interests. If the light was broken, how long would we sit there before we would proceed? It’s the ideas in our head that really matter…..

JIM, VERY IMPORTANT; THANK YOU. I wanted to share with you a story about my granddaughter, Isabelle. At the time of this vignette, her family lived in Duabi where the sun is so hot that the students are required to wear a hat out to recess. Isabelle is typically an excellent student with courteous manners; exemplary really and a teacher’s delight. But on this one day, Isabelle’s good friend had left her hat at home. I think Isabelle may have been in the 4th grade at the time. She didn’t want her friend to have to stay in and be punished alone, and that strong feeling trumped telling the truth: she told the teacher that she, too, had forgotten her hat, Two years later, when Isabelle was told she was to be the “head girl” for her grade in her school, she wept and told her mother she didn’t deserve it as she had once lied to her teacher. This story has haunted me over the years. To this day, I don’t understand why, if hats were required, the students couldn’t have had a cubby or special place in which they could store their hats for daily use, and perhaps take them home for washing before holidays. I am proud of Isabelle for her empathy and willingness to sustain discomfort for a relationship, but I am frustrated about any school that is not student centered and doesn’t take the time to listen to the students and discover their motivation…for anything at all. I do not understand the preference of punishment over discovery, especially once a person knows, understands, and uses Choice Theory.
Blessed be.